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WEED DEALINGS - THINKING AHEAD

There are two types of people in the world: the kind who worry, and the kind who don't. If you find yourself in the latter category, consider yourself lucky. If you find yourself in the former category, then you have something in common with Eureka Chief of Police Garr Nielsen. Chief Nielsen is responsible for ensuring the safety of Humboldt County's largest city, and its inhabitants. He makes sure that the streets are safe, he makes sure that criminals are apprehended, it's his job to ensure that the laws are enforced. The job is mostly a matter of black and white--he succeeds in the fulfillment of explicit tasks. But, with the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes his job has become a bit more complicated. Instead of just being the arm of the law, he is also playing a role in the creation of city regulations and guidelines. And, as the Chief of Police he offers unique insights in the dialog around prop 215.

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Proposition 215 hasn't been a simple change to California's laws. It has been an arduous and constant revision process because that's the way our legal system is set up. Somebody has to get bit by the snake before they make any anti-venom. In our country an initial proposition or law is enacted, and the citizens are subjected to it. In being subjected to the law some citizens are invariably arrested and prosecuted. These prosecutions are then contested in court, and court decisions then reinforce or revise the law. Thus the results of 215's implementation have not been uniform across the State. Because regulation is left up to municipalities themselves, the state has become a mish mosh of differing stances. From San Diego where overzealous officials have arrested medical marijuana patients, to Oakland, where officials are working with the industry's leading professionals to build a community that is closely tied to medical marijuana, the outcome of 215 is largely dependent upon the cooperation of government, community, and industry.

As Chief Nielsen pointed out to me, it is anticipatory action that gets the best results when it comes to 215. That is, it takes people stepping forward and creating regulations before a marketplace is established in order to be effective. And, we can see clear examples of this when we look at Los Angeles and Oakland. In Los Angeles city officials didn't do anything to regulate and the city was literally overrun with dispensaries. On the contrary, in Oakland city officials have been working with industry professionals, advocacy groups, lawyers, and community members to create regulations that benefit the community and strengthen long term economic growth. In Eureka officials are creating a program that follows Oakland more closely than Los Angeles. Currently there is a moratorium on dispensaries. Local government has decided to cap the number of dispensaries at six, and they have 25 applications. As Nielsen pointed out, as this cottage industry prepares to cross over into the legal market it's no longer just about growing plants. The commission appointed to review the applications is taking its job seriously. This has given some potential dispensary owners initiative to hire consulting firms to aid in the development of their business plans—a relatively new concept in the marijuana industry, according to Nielsen. There is a complicated marketplace to be understood. Potential dispensary owners have to sort out regulation compliance, but they also have to be able to demonstrate that they can turn a profit, pay taxes, and stay in business long enough to be deserving of one of the city's limited permits to operate a dispensary. That's not to say that the job of growing marijuana is easy, or that it requires no planning, but it was formerly a rogue market. As it transitions into the open marketplace it takes more complicated strategies, and more profound understandings of the marketplace to succeed.

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Because of the way 215 is set up it makes it very difficult for a city to regulate dispensaries through laws. Instead, Eureka has opted to use ordinances in a style similar to the regulation of restaurants. A special committee has been created to draft and enforce ordinances. In the planning stages there were regular meetings with various branches of local government, growers, community members, and others wherein a cooperative approach was taken. This cooperative approach helps to ensure that regulations will not only be feasible and ensure safety, but they will also help to support a vibrant industry. But what should the codes be regulating?

As a representative for law enforcement, Chief Nielsen's first concern is grow operations set up in homes. Houses were being rented out, and tenants were making unapproved structural changes, there was damage from water and fire, and the general kinds of excessive wear that can be expected running a commercial operation out of a residence. The sudden influx of grow houses also led to a noted rise in home invasion robberies, and for a brief period it created a housing shortage. Nielsen's other chief concern was ensuring security at the dispensaries. One of the key elements of the regulations being developed around dispensaries will be visibility. Nielsen wants to make sure that dispensaries have plenty of window space. The trend thus far in dispensaries has been locations with no windows. While this offers an element of security, it also makes them more susceptible to robberies because no one can see what's going on inside, and the general aesthetic is more akin to the trafficking of illegal goods than the procuration of medicine. In addition, dispensaries and grow operations will be required to meet surveillance and security personnel requirements. And while these factors certainly help to improve security for businesses, they also serve to improve the overall safety of the neighborhood. And what about the money generated by tax revenue? It all goes right back into the city. No special funds, it's just unrestricted tax boon to go towards running the city.

What's happening in Eureka is happening in cities across the state, and is likely to spread outward to other states at a rapid pace. Marijuana is bringing communities together. Local government, law enforcement, community interest groups, industry professionals, patient advocacy groups, and others are either getting together willingly and drafting proactive regulations, or they're forced together once a problem impedes industry or imposes on community. When I asked Chief Nielsen what advice he would give to those cities and states which are not as far along as Eureka in the crafting of policy he said, "Get together. Figure out who is going to represent the different parties with interests in the regulation, get those people together, and get them talking." It makes sense too, because at a local level we're given the chance to create policies that don't necessarily have to result in arrest and appeal in order to make changes. If people are able to get together and act sensibly, then the regulations that are put forth will be favorable from the onset. The less ambiguous this industry is the more it can move forward, and the more it moves forward the closer we get to legalization. I bet Harry Anslinger is turning in his grave.

ZACH G. MOLDOF

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